Do I need to do community service in order to get into a selective college?
This is a question that I get asked a lot by high-achieving students. The quick answer (having read applications for three highly-selective colleges) is no. I’ve never evaluated an application with a checklist of desired activities. As an application reader, I’ve always wanted to know how a student spends his/her/their time outside of the classroom, but I’ve never penalized a student for lacking community service, specifically.
That said, here are some reasons you might want your student to do some volunteer work anyways.
Cross class, cross racial, and cross age relationships: Most high schoolers that I work with almost exclusively interact with their own age group, with the exception of their teachers/educators and parents. In the case of educators and teachers, there’s a hierarchical power dynamic between the student and the adult. Rarely are older people considered peers. Volunteering often forces a young person to work cooperatively alongside older people doing the same task. Working across demographic categories can greatly broaden a young person’s perspective.Volunteering also expands students’ social networks, increases their in-person interactions, and increases their sense of belonging.
A sense of purpose and curiosity about the world: I’ve found that students who volunteer become more curious. A food bank volunteer wonders why poverty and hunger exist. An animal shelter volunteer learns about animal behavior. This often develops into more academic interests. I’ve seen food bank volunteers become budding economists because they want to work on economic policy to reduce poverty.
Practicing doing difficult things: Volunteering often includes unglamorous work. This means washing dishes at a food pantry, scooping poop at an animal shelter, wiping snot off of toddlers at a day camp. A lot of this difficult work is very tangible, though - volunteers can see how doing something kind of gross contributes to a greater mission. This often transfers to the more abstract “yucky” things in their daily lives - how doing homework, for example, can help them better grasp a concept in school.
Where do we start? If you’d like to try volunteering, here are some best practices:
Do something local, and on a regular basis: there is a whole industrial complex of travel-based service projects - these are often stupid expensive, and because of the distance, it’s difficult to build longer-term relationships. Doing something local and regularly helps the relationship to develop.
Ask your school: many schools have service days or community service partners. Often, these are places that readily welcome teen volunteers, and already have a relationship with your school.
Databases such as volunteermatch.org and idealist.org can be great starting points.
Existing relationships: Animal shelters from where you adopted your dog, nature trails that you already enjoy hiking, YMCAs that you’re already a member of often have great volunteer opportunities.
Happy volunteering!